BILL NUMBER: SCR 76	CHAPTERED  09/12/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   131
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 12, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MAY 8, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Vasconcellos
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Dutra, Aanestad, Ackerman,
Aroner, Bates, Battin, Baugh, Bock, Brewer, Briggs, Calderon,
Campbell, Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Cunneen,
Davis, Dickerson, Ducheny, Firebaugh, Gallegos, Granlund, Havice,
Hertzberg, Honda, House, Jackson, Keeley, Kuehl, Leach, Lempert,
Leonard, Longville, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox, Maldonado, Margett,
Mazzoni, McClintock, Migden, Nakano, Olberg, Oller, Robert Pacheco,
Rod Pacheco, Papan, Pescetti, Reyes, Romero, Runner, Scott, Shelley,
Steinberg, Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Torlakson,
Villaraigosa, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wesson, Wiggins, Wildman,
and Zettel)

                        APRIL 12, 2000

   Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 76--Relative to Elias Cortez and
the Department of Information Technology staff.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 76, Vasconcellos.  Elias Cortez and the Department of
Information Technology staff.
   This measure would commend, congratulate, and express gratitude to
Elias Cortez, the Director of Information and Technology, and his
staff for his and their profound, critical, and lasting contribution
to the continued well-being of our state and our citizens.  The
measure would encourage Mr. Cortez to direct his talents, wisdom,
knowledge, collaborative nature, and dedicated staff toward the
challenges that the state and the people of California face as the
state ventures further into the age of information technology.




   WHEREAS, In the 1960's, computer programmers decided to program
computers so that they recognized the year in a date field with only
the last two digits, and computers were programmed to assume that the
first two digits in a date field would be "19"; and
   WHEREAS, The world's computers faced the potential for critical,
and in some cases life-threatening, errors and full-scale breakdown
when computers turned over to the first day of the year 2000 if they
did not recognize the new first two digits "20"; and
   WHEREAS, This phenomenon came to be known as the "Y2K Bug" whose
recognition and resolution became a major cause for concern for all
of us; and
   WHEREAS, The possible ramifications of the Y2K Bug included
widespread and profound breakdown and chaos, including the loss of
life-essential services and many other less threatening yet serious
failures such as interrupted telephone and electrical services,
inaccurate bank transactions, inoperable hospital equipment, failed
delivery of food and medicine, unsafe elevators, and delayed service
from government entities; and
   WHEREAS, The State of California was obligated to play a leading
role to ensure that all of our public and private computer systems
would not be impacted and rendered inoperable by the Y2K Bug; and
   WHEREAS, The State of California initiated its Y2K remediation
program in 1997 to modify every date field to four digits to indicate
the year, and assigned responsibility to the Department of
Information Technology (DOIT) for accomplishing this in a timely
manner; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature, through a joint oversight committee,
began monitoring and helping to guide our state's comprehensive Y2K
public and private remediation efforts, beginning in May 1997; and
   WHEREAS, When Governor Gray Davis was inaugurated in January 1999,
he embraced Y2K remediation as one of his first and most urgent
priorities; and
   WHEREAS, One of Governor Davis' earliest appointees was Elias
Cortez as Director of the Department of Information Technology and
chief information officer for the state, making him the person
directly responsible for assuring our full and timely compliance with
all action necessary to thwart the threat of the Y2K Bug; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez moved immediately, smartly, and
comprehensively to engage himself and his department and the entirety
of our state government in the Y2K remediation effort with all
necessary diligence and urgency and imbued each and all of his
colleagues with the same commitment to diligent and urgent
remediation of the Y2K Bug; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez, in collaboration with other technology
experts, promulgated an entirely new, thoroughgoing, and credible
remediation action plan that effectively identified and targeted
mission critical computer systems, mapped essential steps and target
dates for implementation, employed a sufficient number of outside
consultants to assist state agencies with mission critical systems,
and engaged the regular guidance of private technology and business
leaders; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez and his staff dedicated themselves and their
time and energy almost exclusively to the task of ensuring that every
step in the remediation plan was carried out in an effective and
timely manner; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Cortez and his staff fully exercised, even asserted,
all the authority given them by Governor Davis to compel state
entities to meet their remediation goals with all due diligence and
due haste; and
   WHEREAS, Not satisfied with remediating only our state's
computers, Mr. Cortez stretched his mandate to facilitate remediation
for all California local governments, utilities, hospitals, and the
private sector; and
   WHEREAS, Due to the talent, dedication, commitment, and
thoroughgoing smart hard work of Mr. Cortez, his staff, and
colleagues, our State of California avoided any noticeable impact by
the Y2K Bug; and
   WHEREAS, Due to smart implementation of his Y2K remediation plan,
Mr.  Cortez was concurrently able to improve and enhance many of our
state's computer systems; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
heartily commends, congratulates, and expresses our deep and abiding
gratitude to Elias Cortez, the Director of Information Technology,
and his staff at the Department of Information Technology, for his
and their profound, critical, and lasting contribution to the
continued well-being of our state and our citizens; and be it further

   Resolved, That Mr. Cortez, after an appropriate period of respite
and rejuvenation (both needed and deserved), is heartily encouraged
to direct his considerable talents, his wisdom and knowledge, his
collaborative nature, and dedicated staff toward the ever mounting
and increasingly complex challenges that the state and the people of
California face as our state ventures further into this age of
information technology; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Information Technology and to the
author for appropriate distribution.
